Rex wrote this. He teases me about not summing things up, but this was worth his beautiful description:

Our Thanksgiving Day started with a ride over the river and through the woods of paradise as we drove from Labasa to Savusavu. The volcanic mountain drive was breathtakingly beautiful. Each bend and every hill opened a picture perfect panorama of pristine paradise. Pine trees blending with palms and a myriad of broad leaf trees decorated the lava sculptured landscape. Added to them, in the higher mountains, was a tree we had never seen before. It was in the exact shape of a palm tree, but the branches were like lacey ferns. We endured this vision of heaven for an hour and a half until we dropped down, and the oceans blue came into view. We had to stop and take some pictures.

We parked at the church, and Brother Roth walked down and guided us back to their flat. They are from Switzerland and speak German. They run the Humanitarian Aid program for the church here on this island, Vanua Levu. They help schools with desks, chairs, water tanks, etc. They help villages with water systems and other projects, also. Sister Roth speaks English quite well. Brother Roth’s English is pretty good, but he has a lot of trouble understanding the people of Fiji speaking their version of English, whether they are native Fijian or Hindi. (Of course, we have a hard time understanding them, too, especially on the phone. We can see why the USA doesn’t use Fiji for tech support.) Therefore, Sister Roth works with the people and does all the computer work and he does all the cooking.

President and Sister Walker met us at the Roth’s flat to share Thanksgiving. The Walkers are from the Boise area. (They are aunt and uncle to Michelle and Spencer Ray’s family.)  Elder Walker is a counselor in the mission presidency. This is their second mission. The last one was to Ohio. Each of the other two couples have ten children. The Walkers have 72 grandchildren, the oldest being 25.  We are all the senior couples on the island.  The Smiths were also invited from Taveuni, the next island over, but he was just put in as executive secretary to the district presidency and was in training. 

We had a semi traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.  Chicken instead of turkey and cherry jam to replace cranberries. I personally did not mind the cherries. We threw in a few fruits from Fiji like pineapple, and it was a wonderful meal with cheesecake and pie for dessert.

We Idahoans had to teach the Swiss about what Thanksgiving is. That made the day that much more special. There we were, three couples who had only met once before, far from home, away from our brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors, sharing what we were thankful for. We talked extensively about our children and family, our homes and country. We played games, ate, and played games some more. Each time we explained the rules for a new game, it was fun watching as Sister Roth would explain it again to her husband in German.  We played until 9:00 PM. It was a special Thanksgiving Day!

 Just past Seaqaqa, are mountains full of planted pine trees. It looks as if we are going though Strawberry Canyon in Idaho, but thicker and more well groomed.

They chink the bottom of the trunks and hang plastic bags to collect the resin.

 Doesn't Rex look smashing in his Sulu?

View of ocean as we dropped out of the mountains.

Brother and Sister Roth from Switzerland serving Fiji in Humanitarian Aid.

They have the most beautiful yard!

 There was a huge bush in Roth's yard that reminds me of our morning glory, but huge.

View of the ocean from Roth's yard.

Savu Savu is a favorite for yahts. 
They have started to make the  tiny island in the background into a private resort.

I just can't stay out of the ocean even dressed in a skirt. The water is so clear and so warm.

Rex climbed the hill and took this view. He loves how I come alive when I'm by an ocean. 

We had a picnic with the Walkers. I wish the camera could capture all the shades of blue.